Refrigerator Having a Compartment for Accomodating Articles that are to be Cooled

ABSTRACT

A refrigerator having an inner space enclosed by a heat-insulating housing and having at least one compartment for accommodating articles that are to be cooled. The compartment has a curved edge and is disposed in the inner space. A strip placed on the curved edge in the form of a decorative, protective or reinforcing element, maintains its curved shape due to its plastic core.

This invention relates to a refrigerator with an inner space enclosed bya heat insulating housing and at least one compartment arranged in theinner space for accommodating articles to be cooled.

Such a compartment for accommodating articles to be cooled may, forexample, be a compartment bottom or pull-out drawer mounted in the bodyof the refrigerator, or it may be a door compartment mounted on theinside of the refrigerator door. For reinforcing a free edge of such acompartment for accommodating articles to be cooled, and to protect sucharticles from damage, or simply for aesthetic reasons, it may bedesirable to place a protective or decorative strip on the edge. If theedge has a curved shape, the strip must follow this shape. Producing thestrips with different radii of curvature, according to the curvature ofthe edge on which they are to be mounted, involves high costs and istherefore expensive. Although in principle it is possible to producesuch a curved strip by injection moulding with a radius of curvaturewhich fits the edge on which the strip is to be mounted, this requiresspecific injection moulding tools for each radius of curvature.

Extruded reinforcing or decorative strips of plastic, which arelaminated with a metallic iridescent hot embossed foil to give them ametallic appearance, are known from the prior art. However, suchextruded strips are generally rectilinear and cannot be permanently bentafter extrusion without considerable expenditure in order to adapt themto the radius of curvature of the edge of a compartment foraccommodating articles to be cooled on which they are to be placed.

A method is also known for placing a reinforcing and/or decorative stripon a free edge of a compartment for accommodating articles to be cooled,particularly a compartment bottom, the strip consisting entirely ofmetal. However, such a strip, in most cases manufactured in thecontinuous casting process, is also rectilinear, and it is difficult tobend them to adapt them to a curved edge without at the same timedistorting the strip as a result of bending.

The object of this invention is to provide a refrigerator in which astrip that is also curved is placed on a curved edge of a compartmentfor accommodating articles to be cooled, and which is simple andinexpensive to produce with a small number of tools.

The object is achieved in that the strip placed on the curved edge ofthe compartment for accommodating articles to be cooled is constructedfrom a plastic core and a metal jacket, the jacket holding the plasticcore in a curved configuration. Such a strip may be initially producedcomparatively simply in a rectilinear configuration, then bent to fitthe shape of the edge. Whilst the plastic material of the core isgenerally only elastically deformed by such bending, plastic deformationtakes place on the metal of the jacket, which deformation persists whenthe bending force is no longer exerted and prevents the plastic corefrom returning to a rectilinear configuration.

To ensure a tight fit of the strip on the edge of the compartment foraccommodating articles to be cooled and/or to protect the edgeeffectively from damage, the strip preferably has a groove into whichthe curved edge of the compartment is introduced.

The strip, constructed from a plastic core and metal jacket, allowsbending with a radius of curvature transversely to the depth directionof the groove without appreciable distortion of the strip.

To enable the strip to be anchored by interlocking on the edge, thegroove preferably has a width that increases, at least at certainpoints, from an inlet region of the groove to its bottom.

The metal jacket preferably has a material thickness of 0.1 to 0.3 mm,preferably approx. 0.2 mm The strip, with plastic core and metal jacket,is preferably produced by co-extrusion. Therefore long rectilinearstrips can easily be obtained which, for placing on one edge of acompartment for accommodating article to be cooled, need only be cut tothe length of this edge and bent according to its radius of curvature.

Further features and advantages of the invention are evident from thefollowing description of an exemplary embodiment with reference to theattached figures, where:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a door compartment for a refrigeratoraccording to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged section through the door compartment in FIG. 1along line II-II; and

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged detail of the door compartment.

FIG. 1 shows, in a perspective view, a door compartment for arefrigerator according to the invention, with a drawer 1 integrallyinjection moulded from plastic. Drawer 1, open on its top, has a bottom2, a rear wall 3 facing towards the door of the refrigerator whenassembled, a curved front wall 4 facing towards the inner space andlateral walls 5, each of which is divided by a step 6 into a sectionadjacent to the refrigerator door and a section remote from therefrigerator door. When the door compartment has been assembled verticalribs formed on the inside of the refrigerator door rest against thesections of lateral walls 5 close to the door, and projections formed onthe ribs engage in grooves 7 of the sections close to the door tosupport the door compartment, which grooves are open at the bottom andclosed at the top.

As can be seen in particular in the sections shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, abead 8, with a cross-section in the shape of three quarters of a circle,is formed on the upper edge of front wall 4. A reinforcing anddecorative strip 9 is interlocked on this bead 8 in that bead 8 is heldin a groove 10 of strip 9. Groove 10, like strip 9 itself, has across-section roughly in the shape of a circle segment, which extendsover an arc of more than 180° so that groove 10 is narrower in its inletregion than at its widest point. Strip 9 consists of a core 11 of aplastic material, which may be the same material as in drawer 1, and ajacket 12 of metal which essentially covers the visible outer surface ofstrip 9. Strip 9 is manufactured by co-extrusion of metal jacket 12 withcore 11, a straight strip being initially obtained. A piece cut fromthis straight strip in the length required for front wall 4 is then bentto the radius of curvature corresponding to the curvature of front wall4. In the metal of jacket 12 this bending results in plasticdeformation, whilst in the plastic of the core it is still largelyelastic. The thickness of the metal jacket is chosen as approx. 0.2. mmso that strip 9 retains its curved configuration after bending againstany readjusting force of core 11.

It is therefore possible to use the same co-extruded profile formanufacturing strips 9 for a plurality of models of door compartmentswith different radii of curvature of front wall 4.

1-9. (canceled)
 10. A refrigerator comprising: an inner space enclosedby a heat-insulating housing; at least one compartment for accommodatingarticles to be cooled and being disposed within the inner space andhaving a curved edge; and a strip placed on the curved edge andincluding a plastic core and a metal jacket holding the plastic core ina curved configuration.
 11. The refrigerator according to claim 10,wherein the strip has a groove into which the edge of the compartmentfor accommodating articles to be cooled is inserted.
 12. Therefrigerator according to claim 11, wherein the depth direction of thegroove is aligned transversely to the radius of curvature of thedecorative strip.
 13. The refrigerator according to claim 11, whereinthe width of the groove increases, at least at certain points, from aninlet region of the groove to its bottom.
 14. The refrigerator accordingto claim 11, wherein the jacket has a material thickness between about0.1 to 0.3 mm.
 15. The refrigerator according to claim 14, wherein thejacket has a material thickness of about 0.2 mm.
 16. The refrigeratoraccording to claim 11, wherein the plastic core and the metal jacket areco-extruded.
 17. The refrigerator according to claim 11, wherein thecompartment for accommodating articles to be cooled includes a doorcompartment.
 18. A method for manufacturing a curved decorative stripfor a refrigerator having an inner space enclosed by a heat-insulatinghousing and at least one compartment for accommodating articles to becooled and being disposed within the inner space and having a curvededge, and the strip being placed on the curved edge and including aplastic core and a metal jacket holding the plastic core in a curvedconfiguration, the method comprising the acts of: providing a straightdecorative strip with a plastic core and a metal jacket surrounding theplastic core; bending the straight decorative strip to a desired radiusof curvature to form the curved decorative strip; cutting the decorativestrip to a desired length.
 19. The method according to claim 17, whereinthe act of providing the straight decorative strip includesmanufacturing the strip by co-extrusion of the plastic core and thejacket.